China auto sales expand in November

BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- China's automobile industry was generally sound in November as both auto sales and production expanded, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said on Monday.

Some 1.79 million vehicles were sold in November, up 11.52 percent from October and 8.16 percent year on year, the CAAM said in a statement posted on its website.

Meanwhile, 1.76 million vehicles were produced, up 10.99 percent from October and 3.92 percent from a year earlier.

In the first 11 months of 2012, total sales increased 4.03 percent year on year to 17.49 million vehicles, while total production rose 4.51 percent to 17.48 million vehicles, the association said.

The CAAM forecast that both sales and production will exceed 19 million vehicles for the whole year, slightly more than a year earlier.

Yao Jie, vice secretary-general of the CAAM, said auto sales and production this year are likely to both grow by around 5 percent from last year.

In 2011, auto sales in China stood at 18.51 million units and production at 18.42 million units.